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By Kevin MurphyReuters • Saturday October 12, 2013 9:17 AM

KANSAS CITY, MO. — Missouri abandoned plans yesterday to become the first U.S. state to use the
anesthetic propofol in an execution after it drew strong opposition, especially in Europe, where 90
percent of the drug is manufactured.

Gov. Jay Nixon, a longtime death-penalty supporter, announced that propofol would not be used in
an execution scheduled for later this month, and he directed state officials to find another lethal
drug.

The action was a dramatic example of how opponents of capital punishment in Europe and the
United States have exerted pressure on major pharmaceutical companies to cut off supplies of drugs
for executions, forcing states to scramble for alternative supplies.

Propofol is widely used as an anesthetic in hospitals, and its potential use in executions
prompted the European Union to threaten to halt exports to the United States.

On Thursday, German manufacturer Fresenius Kabi confirmed it took the extraordinary step of
suspending propofol shipments to a U.S. distributor this year after 20 vials were mistakenly sent
to Missouri for execution use.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.,
said he had never heard of a drug firm suspending shipments to a distributor over their possible
use in U.S. executions.

Nixon’s announcement came two days after the state said it would return the propofol. The drug
was to be used in the Oct. 23 execution of convicted murderer Allen Nicklasson.

The German drugmaker praised Missouri’s reversal.

“This is a decision that will be welcomed by the medical community and patients nationwide who
were deeply concerned about the potential of a drug shortage,” Fresenius Kabi USA Chief Executive
John Ducker said in a statement.